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The following article has been published in a Polish Renewable online magazine. Please read the english translation here:

The signs of the times. A 4 MW SUNfarming PV farm was built near the power station in Ostroleka

The project developer SUNfarming Polska launches four photovoltaic farms with a total capacity of 4 MW in the vicinity of the coal-fired power plant in Ostrołęka this month. SUNfarming is already preparing to build next PV farms in other parts of the country, while looking for opportunities to take over projects with winning auctions.
The launch of four solar farms in Ostrołęka by SUNfarming Polska this month is the result of guaranteeing support for these projects as a result of the first auction for renewable energy, which the Energy Regulatory Office carried out at the end of December 2016.

Under the terms of that auction, all the projects supported at that time must start generating energy by the end of 2018. In the case of projects implemented near Ostrołęka, this condition will be met, and solar farms will start to transfer energy to the PGE Dystrybucja network this month. The entire PV farm complex will produce 4 GWh of electricity per year.

Photovoltaic farms set up by Sunfarming Polska were established in the areas where previously a furnace waste landfill was located. It was formed from the combustion of coal at the power plant in Ostrołęka.

The use of photovoltaics in this place will make it possible to develop areas that are not suitable for use for other types of activities, because they were a landfill of slag and ashes for 35 years.
Currently, SUNfarming Polska is preparing for the construction of further solar farms, for which support was guaranteed in the auction system thanks to the second auction conducted by URE (The Energy Regulatory Office) in June 2017.

It is about three photovoltaic farms that will be built near Łask in the province Łódz. In addition, two PV farms will be built near Ząbkowice Śląskie in the province Lower Silesia. The purchase of a sixth project with public guarantees of energy sales in the auction system is also being finalized.

In line with the liabilities resulting from the auction conducted in June last year, these solar farms must start producing energy by mid-2019.

SUNfarming Polska is looking for opportunities to acquire new projects that can be completed by the middle of next year. The company is also interested in purchasing further PV projects, for which the possibility of settlements in the auction system was guaranteed in the last auction of November this year.

By expanding its portfolio, SUNfarming Polska plans to build a PV farm in Poland with a total capacity of around 20 MW.

In the debate about the use of agricultural land for solar power production, SUNfarming has long been offering solutions for the double use of such areas.

The president Antonio Morales Mendez from Cabildo de Gran Canaria visited our stand together with an official delegation

The aim of the 12th international trade fair Canagua & Energía, promoted by the Cabildo of Gran Canaria (the Island Government), aims to transform the Canary Islands into a reference point for renewable energy on an international scale, new opportunities for companies, new models production, efficiency and desalination.

The forward-looking project SUNfarming Food & Energy has met with great interest in business and politics.
Having successfully run Food & Energy projects in South Africa, we are particularly pleased that we had the opportunity to present our project to Project Seiko Douka, Energy and Mines Commissioner ECOWAS, El Hadji Ada NDAO Director of Senegal National Water Company, Mme Columba NDIAYE Ministerium Energy Planification & Estudes and Mor Fama KOBAR DIRECTOR Soloum Energy.

“Our participation in the fair was very successful. We have made many interesting new national and international contacts in the energy sector, as well as intensified existing contacts with associations and state organizations”, explains Holger Schönherr, SUNfarming Partner.

(Erkner/Berlin, 30 August 2018) On the sun terrace of the Estrel in Berlin, the largest hotel in Europe, SUNfarming has built its solar greenhouse at a height of 50 m. The greenhouse, which is covered by a 4 m wide light dome, has a size of approx. 42, 5m ² (5m x 8, 5m). The rooftops east and west of the light dome are equipped with SUNfarming modules, the generated solar power is used directly by the hotel.
The plant is used by SUNfarming GmbH as a model of larger SF Food & Energy plants and SF Urban Farming in Germany in order to present project partners, politicians and financial partners, including ambassadors from African States, SF Food & Energy in a practical manner. Under the partial shading of the greenhouse, a micro-climate with low evaporation is formed; This favours the growth of different types of vegetables as hydroponics. Irrigation is carried out by means of a water-saving drip irrigation. This makes it possible to cultivate plants at otherwise barren sites – such as house roofs or in resource-poor areas (crisis regions, developing countries).
Kitchen director Peter Griebel harvests fresh and regional organic vegetables and herbs for his restaurant kitchens. At present, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, blueberries, chilies, bavarian figs and medicinal herbs are mainly harvested here.

On August 29th the project was inaugurated during the course of a rooftop party. Numerous guests from politics and business had followed the joint invitation of SUNfarming and Estrel and had the opportunity to visit the solar greenhouse, accompanied by specialized experts who were happy to answer all the questions.

In his opening speech, hotel director Thomas Brückner highlights the great interest of the Estrel hotel in healthy organic food products and its own spice production in cooperation with SUNfarming.
In his address, Peter Schrum,the main shareholder and founder of the SUNfarming Group, emphasizes the wide range of possible applications and possibilities for development policy: “The advantages for citizens and municipalities are endless. SUNfarming Urban Farming Plus contributes to the regional supply of cities. This project offers a wide participation of the municipalities with long-term ownership, sustainable food and energy production and job security with a strong training component also for schools and research institutions “.
Internationally, the SUNfarming multi-purpose light domes can make an important development policy contribution to the elimination of escape causes. With these projects, we not only save resources, but also create knowledge resources for the future through educational offerings”, concludes Peter Schrum.More informations can be found here

Four more SUNfarming solar parks with a total power of 3,000 kWp solar energy were successfully connected to the grid until the middle of 2018 in Märkisch Oderland and in Saxony-Anhalt.

In the municipalities of Wolmirsleben, Wegeleben and Hennickendorf in Saxony-Anhalt, 750 kWp were ever realised on former landfill sites, a further 750 kWp were completed in Harzgerode in the district of Märkisch Oderland as a free-field plant.

“Every year the four plants together produce proud 3.2 million kilowatt-kilowatts of electricity. This is enough to supply electricity from solar energy for about 900 households over 30 years. 11,000 built-in SUNfarming quality modules ensure a CO2 saving of 1,700 tonnes per year”, explains Martin Hinneburg SUNfarming head of sales and project calculation.

Landfills are as sites for Solar Park as created, no shading, conveniently located and the network connection in the immediate vicinity. Administration and municipal policy advocated a leasing of the area and the development of a photovoltaic system since other uses are often not to be reconciled with the context of a former landfill.
In addition to the sustainable generation of energy, the solar parks have additional financial benefits for the counties, which has an impact on the costs of the citizens.Read more about the SUNfarming Own-Electricity-Concept for municipalities

The District Council deputies decided it at the March meeting and in June it was legally founded: the SUN:BAR Photovoltaic Barnim GmbH. The project company, a joint venture between the Brandenburg BPG Beteiligungs-und Projekt Management GmbH from Erkner (sister company of SUNfarming GmbH) and the Barnimer Energy Investment Company MBH (BEBG) plans to invest in the Barnim decentralised generation and storage of electricity from renewable energy sources.

The first project is already on the verge of implementation: this year, the expansion of the landfill in Eberswalde will start an energy park. Up to 2020, three solar plants with an installed capacity of 750 kWp are to be built on the site of the decommissioned landfill. The completion of the first plant is already planned for autumn 2018.

“It is our first joint venture with a municipal company and we are pleased to be able to contribute a part to the implementation of the Barnimer energy turnaround,” says Martin Tauschke, technical managing director of SUN:BAR.

“With the BPG we have found a competent and experienced partner in the solar plant investment planning and plant management to build municipal production plants in the district Barnim. In perspective, our goal is to market the electricity generated here also regionally. The participation of citizens is also within reach. One of the three plants could be conceived as a citizen solar system, we examine “, announces Christian Mehnert, managing director of SUN:BAR.